


Took the Midnight Train

by foggys_cupcake_girl



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies), Polar Express - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dumbledore is Santa Claus, Feel-good, Fluff, Good Gellert Grindelwald, M/M, Magic, POV Gellert Grindelwald, Trains, conductor!Grindelwald, engineer!Percy & Cree, hottie Kurt Russell Santa from Christmas Chronicles, it's literally just the Polar Express but like 100x more gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:06:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28372860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foggys_cupcake_girl/pseuds/foggys_cupcake_girl
Summary: On Christmas Eve, Gellert Grindelwald, conductor of the Polar Express, must bring children from the human world to the North Pole, where they will meet the mythical Santa Claus. It would be an easy job, except it's not. Not when he has to deal with caribou, broken ice, misbehaving engineers, and his own worries that he isn't, and never will be, as good as the kids he's been assigned to protect.
Relationships: Albus Dumbledore/Gellert Grindelwald, Credence Barebone/Original Percival Graves
Comments: 8
Kudos: 11





	Took the Midnight Train

**Author's Note:**

  * For [iPumperdiddle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/iPumperdiddle/gifts).



> A few weeks ago while we were discussing the Polar Express, iPumperdiddle requested a Fantastic Beasts remix of the movie with Albus as Santa, Gellert as the Conductor, and Percy & Cree as Smokey & Steamer, even going so far as to swear she'd give up her "Christmas smut" (aka "Everywhere We Go") to make it happen. We-ell...turns out you didn't have to choose! I am 100% sure there are exactly three people who will find this appealing lol but why not? Here, have a gay remix of The Polar Express. Merry Christmas y'all ;P
> 
> (yes I KNOW it's December 27 but you know what, there are 12 days of Christmas, I'm still within the bounds of holiday propriety here lol)
> 
> And one more thing -- I couldn't find any fan art of Jude Law as Santa Claus so I used the sexy (am I the only one who thinks that?) Kurt Russell Santa from 'Christmas Chronicles' for my moodboard. However if y'all wanna picture squishy-fied Jude Law in a Santa suit, well. I sure as heck won't stop you :P

Gellert looked at his pocketwatch. The hand was still firmly in the “on time” zone, but it was getting a little too close to “late” for his liking, and they still had two more stops to make. He looked in on the kids, and then went to the engine car and told Percy, “We’ll be braking in about five minutes. Got two more stops.”

“Got it. How far apart?” Gellert told him and Percy nodded. “Do me a favor and send Cree in if you see him. Johnson bar keeps getting jammed. We’ll be in big trouble if it doesn’t get sorted.”

“Noted.” Gellert headed back down the train, stopping to notify the dining car that hot chocolate would be required soon, and watched the passenger car through the little glass window for a moment. He knew these kids, had been drilled by Santa on their stories. His job was to guide them on their journey, not just to the North Pole, but to their own self-discovery.

(And how he got that job…let’s just say he spent a lot of time on the naughty list and had lot to atone for. Luckily, the boss never seemed to mind his company.)

He looked first at the little girl they had just picked up—Nona, a pretty little thing, dark eyes, dark hair, dark skin, fleecy pink nightgown. Ten years old two months ago. Her task tonight would be to learn to trust herself, to grow into her innate leadership abilities. That was going to be fun. Gellert already had half a mind to let her drive the train. At the very least he’d have to introduce her to Credence, he had a feeling they’d get on very well.

And then the boy they’d picked up before her, Eddie—this one, Gellert had to admit with a twinge of discomfort, reminded him of himself in his former life. So sure he knew everything, covering up any insecurity with a show of exaggerated intelligence. Gellert would have to nudge him towards humility tonight.

There were others. Katie, a girl who needed to learn the importance of integrity; Joey, a boy who was afraid of everything; Emma, who was lonely and just needed to know she wasn’t the only one who still believed in Santa. Every one of them in his care for the night. There was a time when he’d have found that terrifying. By now, however, it was old hat.

Gellert was ready when they pulled up outside the nice house in Grand Rapids, smiling to himself when he saw the boy (Chris, 10 years old, growing up too fast, not ready to leave childhood behind but not sure he could still believe in Santa) run out the front door at the sound of the train. “Well? Are you coming?” he asked when the kid skidded to a stop in front of him.

“Where?” the boy asked.

“Well, to the North Pole, of course! This is the _Polar Express!”_ Chris just stared at Gellert like he was speaking Chinese. This reaction, of course, was familiar. Children didn’t often see a massive train roll down their street with the intent of taking them to see Santa, after all. For effect, Gellert pulled out his clipboard and made a little show of looking up Chris’ file. “Hmm. Says here you didn’t have a photo with a department-store Santa this year, no letter to Santa, and you made your sister leave out the milk and cookies by herself—how ungentlemanly of you, young man, you should have helped her.” 

“I’m…sorry?”

“Oh, don’t worry, you’re still on the nice list as far as I know. Anyhow, the point is this could be your crucial year. If I were you, I’d think about coming aboard.”

Chris shook his head a little and took a step back. Gellert shrugged and went to climb back aboard. He knew the minute the train started moving the kid would hop on. It was just how it went. He’d only known of a few kids who had ever refused in earnest. Most of them were just a little nervous, but ultimately couldn’t pass up the chance to _meet Santa._

Gellert went through the process. Brought the kid into the compartment, punched his ticket, showed him to his seat. He then went up to the front to see if all was well with the train and instead found his engineers liplocked over the coal scuttle. “Oh for heaven’s sake. Could you two perhaps at least pretend to behave yourselves for one night?” he demanded.

Percy at least had the grace to blush a little as he pulled away from his starry-eyed assistant. “I’ve seen you kiss Albus in the workshop,” he said pertly.

Gellert rolled his eyes. “Not when we have a deadline.” He turned to Credence. “I’m going to be bringing a little girl to help steer tonight. You know the drill.”

Credence’s dark eyes lit up. He loved it when Gellert brought the kids up to help run the train. Nothing ever gave Credence a bigger thrill than thinking he might’ve initiated some kind of lifelong love of trains in some wide-eyed child. Percy, meanwhile, got a kick out of feigning incompetence and letting the kids tell him what to do. “We’ll be ready for her,” Credence promised. “We’ll say we had to change out the light in the front and that’s why we needed her to drive.”

Percy grinned and squeezed his husband’s arm. “Classic…but, Gellert,” he added with a little frown, “maybe we could _try_ to make sure we do it before we get too close to Glacier Gulch this time? It’s just I’d like to _not_ almost die tonight, if that’s not too much trouble.”

“Have I ever put you two in danger?” Gellert demanded.

“Yes,” the two engineers said in unison.

Gellert rolled his eyes. “Well, fine then. You’re no fun, either of you. Credence, our stop is coming up. Don’t rush it, we all know the kid will climb aboard the minute we start to pull away.”

Credence nodded; he knew the routine by now. (He ought to. The three of them had been working together for decades.)

The last boy to be picked up, a sweet little thing named Billy who reminded Gellert painfully of a younger Credence. This one was not a little afraid to come along and would probably not get on no matter how slowly the train took off. Well. His loss, then. The poor little guy badly needed a break and Gellert dearly wished there was more he could do, but he’d been very sternly told _you can’t save every child_ enough times for it to (however painfully) sink in. Besides, they had a schedule to keep. It was _very_ important to get to the North Pole on time.

He ran to the dining car. “Hot chocolate,” he said, and that was it; the men immediately snapped into position, cups and saucers and tablecloths and, of course, the big chocolate pot at the ready—

—only for a stack of cups to fall on the floor, along with a half-dozen waiters, as the train jerked to a stop. “Wait here,” Gellert all but snarled, and stalked back to the passenger car. “Who in the blazes applied that emergency break?” he demanded. Eddie, the know-it-all boy, immediately pointed to a stricken Chris. “Young man, that brake is for emergencies only! If this train doesn’t get to the Pole on time there will be severe consequences. Now I understand Christmas may not be important to _some people,”_ this with the most disdainful look and tone he could imagine, “but it is very important to the rest of us!”

The poor, scared kid just stood there and took it. Gellert hated to shout, but he knew his role and played it well. And it worked, because Nona intervened. “He only did it so the kid could get on the train!” she cut in, pointing to little Billy sitting in the car behind them by himself.

“Oh. Well, then…” Gellert was genuinely taken aback. He hadn’t expected Billy to really jump on the train, for one thing, and for another, who’d have thought that Chris would jump to break the rules for someone he didn’t know? Clearly, whatever other problems this kid had, caring for others was not on the list; he had that on lock. “Don’t do it again,” he ordered Chris, instead of doing what he really wanted, which was to lean down and give him a hug.

At any rate it was time for his favorite part of the night. “Attention,” he said into the speaker by the door, “are there any _Polar Express_ passengers in need of refreshment? I thought so…” The kids cheered as the doors blasted open and the waiters danced in. Gellert loved doing this; dancing and singing had nevers been his greatest skills, but it was well worth singing the silly hot chocolate song to see the looks on the kids’ faces when the waiters danced on the tables and squirted hot chocolate out of that giant contraption right into the floating cups.

He saw Nona sneak a cup of hot chocolate under her seat. _Interesting._ The girl definitely wasn’t underprivileged, and Gellert knew she was allowed sweets at home, so why would she do that? He didn’t call her on it. Just waited until after the other waiters had cleared out to see what she did with it…and he immediately understood when she started to go for the door between the cars.

“It’s for him,” he heard her tell Chris, nodding to the door.

“You can’t go out there without the conductor, it’s not safe,” Chris protested.

“I think I’ll be okay,” she said in the patented _shut-up, mansplainer_ voice that millions of women had used on millions of men. _She must have older brothers,_ Gellert thought affectionately as she gave Chris a cool _mind your business_ look.

“Are you sure?” Chris persisted, and Gellert decided that was enough.

He came up behind Nona, who immediately tensed when she sensed the presence of a higher authority. “What about this lad in the back?” he asked, looking straight at Chris, the objector. “Did _he_ get any refreshment?” Nona firmly shook her head, and looked pointedly at the hot chocolate in her hands. “Well let’s take some to him then, by all means!” Gellert concluded, making sure to give her a warm smile to indicate that yes, he approved, she’d done well.

Nona relaxed, clearly pleased with herself, and Gellert led her between the cars to take the hot chocolate to Billy. “This young lady here had the idea to bring you something to drink,” he told the shy boy, who took the cup without so much as a smile or eye contact. “Just because you prefer to sit by yourself, doesn’t mean you should have to miss out now, should it?”

Nona wanted to stay back in the caboose with Billy, but Gellert gently steered her back to the main compart and nudged her back into her seat. He hadn’t punched her ticket earlier and needed to make sure he got around to it before he got too busy…only to find that her ticket, which had been on the seat when they left (he’d seen it, he _knew_ it was there), was suddenly gone.

Well. That sort of thing could only be expected; the train was old and full of magic, it was definitely prone to playing tricks. More likely that ticket would turn up in the pocket of her nightgown in a half-hour or so. “Well, then. You’ll just have to come with me,” he decided when she told him sadly that her ticket was missing. He led her out to the back platform of the caboose. She looked at him with horror in her eyes, and he couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m not throwing you off the train, dear,” he assured her. “But I _do_ have very big plans for you. Hold on tight now…”

~

The roof of the _Polar Express_ was specifically enchanted so that it could be walked upon without one being knocked off by g-forces or ice. However, that didn’t mean it was an easy path to take.

“Why didn’t we just go through the inside cars?” Nona asked after a few minutes of struggling through the wind and snow on the roof.

“Now where’s the fun in that?” Gellert laughed. “A little ice and snow won’t kill us, and you must admit it’s exciting up here.”

“And scary.”

“Fear is something to be conquered, little one, not something to which one should succumb. Now. About that ticket—”

“I didn’t mean to lose it, I’m sorry.”

“No, no. Listen, no one comes on this train by accident. If you’re here, there’s a reason. Something you need to learn, that you can _only_ learn from a trip on this exact train to the North Pole on this exact night. You understand?”

“I kind of figured,” Nona admitted, and then gasped as Gellert scooped her up and leapt between the train cars with her in his arms.

“Told you it was fun,” Gellert teased as he set her back down and continued walking on the train car tops. “Now. I’m not surprised a smart girl like you figured it out. But what you need to know, then, is that those tickets play a part in your lesson. If you’ve mislaid your ticket, well…we’ll just have to find a new way for you to get whatever you need out of this train ride, won’t we? No one gets thrown off the _Polar Express,”_ he assured her.

Nona nodded slowly, and then made a little squeak of surprise as once again she was swept up and jumped from car top to car top. “So what am I here for, then?” she asked when they were safely walking along again. “What’s my lesson?”

“I think you can figure it out for yourself in time. You do like to learn new things, don’t you, dear?” She nodded again, but he took note of the suspicion in her eyes and had to smile. She really was a tough cookie, he thought, very pleased at the revelation. That was nice. He liked having tough girls around. The world could always do with a few more of those. “Then there’s nothing to worry about. I think you’ll like this very much. Here we are…”

They went down the ladder on the side of the coal carrier and into the engine cab…only to find his two engineers were Having A Moment once again. He fought the impulse to shield Nona’s eyes; she was eleven, after all, she was hardly too young to know that grown-ups sometimes kissed.

And really they weren’t kissing. Just sitting there sort of cuddling. Nuzzled up to each other like a couple of puppies. Gellert sighed and tapped the frame of the door. “Gentlemen, could we please _try_ for some professionalism, at least?”

Nona giggled as Credence leapt off Percy’s lap and nearly fell over his own long legs in a hurry to put some distance between them. “Sorry, sir.” His eyes fell on Nona and he brightened. “Is this her, then? Our new helper?”

“Sure is.” Gellert squatted down beside Nona to meet her at eye-level. “These two nice men, when they’re done behaving like a pair of sleepy kittens instead of grown adults with important jobs—”

“Hey,” Percy protested.

Gellert ignored him. “—are going to show you how to drive the train. Now, now,” he headed her off before she could predictably insist that she couldn’t possibly manage such a big job, “it’s not as intimidating as it sounds. If Percy here can do it, you can, I assure you.”

“I’ll pretend you didn’t say that,” Percy said with a roll of his eyes. “Come here, darling. I’ll show you what to do. See, this big lever here is the throttle, this little handle is the brake. The rope is the whistle.” He scooped Nona up in his arms so she can reach the rope hanging from the ceiling without having to rise on her toes. “Go on, give it a pull.”

With a little noise of excitement she did just that, squealing in joy as the whistle sounded. “I’ve always wanted to do that,” she said happily. Then she frowned. “But what if we run into trouble?”

“We won’t be far,” Credence assured her. “We’re just going to replace the light on the front of the engine. We’ll be right outside, all right?”

Gellert nodded in satisfaction and decided his work here was done. He went to the dining car and scarfed down a welcome sandwich, then went and looked in on the other kids. Unsurprisingly, Chris had disappeared. Gellert chuckled quietly to himself. Gone to rescue Nona, no doubt. He stuck his head out the window to see where Chris was at on the roof and, sure enough, he heard the boy telling someone, “I’m looking for a girl.”

There was a long pause, and then a burst of feminine laughter. “Aren’t we all?” came a musical voice in reply, and Gellert had to clap a hand over his mouth to keep from cracking up. So Chris had met Nagini, then, the pretty ghost who acted as a sort of guardian angel to the _Polar Express._

Years ago, when they were both still alive and mortal, Nagini was Credence’s best friend. She’d been so proud of him when he’d gained his immortality when he started working for the man who had back then held the title of Santa. She’d died in some accident or other, Gellert didn’t know the details, but she’d immediately come to haunt the train so she could see her friend, and over time, well, every ghost becomes a poltergeist if they stick around long enough, so instead of exorcising her (which they couldn’t do anyway, not to her; she was such a _sweet_ ghost and never really did any harm) they asked her to help look after the kids.

“No, but I’m afraid she got thrown off the train,” he heard Chris tell her. “I think the conductor was going to throw her off because she didn’t have a ticket.”

“Who, Gellert? Nah, he wouldn’t throw kids off the train. He wouldn’t even throw _me_ off the train. Here, have some coffee. It’s cold up here. So…tell me about this girl…”

Flattop Tunnel was only about fifteen minutes away, so Gellert knew Nagini wouldn’t linger with Chris too long. She’d want to get him into the engine room sooner rather than later, because she could dematerialize or flatten herself out, but she knew the kids couldn’t do that. “I’ll meet you there,” he said out the window. He knew Chris wouldn’t hear it. Nagini would, though, and she’d know the kid was going to be safe once she got him to the front.

Gellert got held up twice on the way back to the engine, first in the toy car (it really wasn’t his fault he got tangled in the marionette strings…all right, it _was_ because it was technically his job to sort out the toys in that car but he couldn’t be everywhere at once, blast it) and then in the dining car (when oh when would the staff realize _cocoa is not a meal?)_ and was almost to the front when _the %#$ &-ing train stopped again! _ Which would’ve been bad enough except he fell flat on his face when it stopped so abruptly. That just wasn’t fair.

Gellert cursed under his breath as he dragged himself to his feet and staggered the last few steps into the engine car. “Oh, why am I not surprised,” he groaned when he saw Chris holding the brake. “Young man, are you bound and determined that this train never reach the North Pole?”

Nona pointed out of the cab. “They needed us to stop! Look!”

Gellert stalked out of the engine car to find… “Caribou,” he sighed. “Lovely.”

Credence looked about as upset as Gellert felt. “I’d estimate maybe a hundred thousand, maybe two,” he complained, still sitting up on the engine where he’d been perched to help change the lightbulb. “It’ll be _hours_ before this clears up.”

“We’re in some serious jelly, then, aren’t we,” Percy said, leaning against the front of the engine.

“And a jam,” one of the kids added helpfully, though Gellert didn’t bother looking to see which one.

“Tight spot. Up a creek. Tough nut to crack. Pick appropriate phrase and insert here,” Gellert said with a roll of his eyes, “but now that we’ve established that we’re lost in the grass, how do you propose we fix it?”

“I’ll tell you what’s grass,” Percy snapped as Credence started to dismount the engine, “our ass— _aaaahhh!”_

Credence had slipped sideways off the engine and fallen, and Percy had let out a cry of dismay as his assistant flailed towards the ground. He managed to catch the man just in time, but the caribou made a little squeak in reply and started to move away.

Chris and Nona, who had both come out of the cab with Gellert, both perked up. “Make that sound again,” Chris suggested.

“What sou— _hey!”_ Percy set Credence down and was immediately hit with a pinch to the side from Chris, at which point he let out another yelp. The caribou in the front yelped back and moved away, as did the few caribou behind him.

 _Bingo._ “Smart boy,” Gellert praised Chris. To Percy he added, “Sorry about this, my friend, but we do have a schedule to keep,” before giving him a much harder, longer pinch than Chris had given him, resulting in a longer cry of pain. It did the trick, and the lead caribou whined back one more time before backing off entirely, with the rest of them following his lead.

Percy glared at Gellert through watery eyes. “I hate you,” he announced.

Credence gave his husband a sympathetic pat on the arm. “C’mon, love. We need to get the train moving again.”

“Straight ahead and slow,” Gellert ordered them as the kids came and stood beside him on the front of the locomotive. “And you two, hold on tight. We’ll go inside in a moment. But I thought you might like the view out here. Not everyone gets to see this, you know.”

“Chris found my ticket,” Nona informed him, happily brandishing the little golden slip.

“Well, in that case…” He punched her ticket which, with any luck, would read _lead_ by the end of the night. “Oh, for goodness’ sake,” he said as they picked up speed. “YOU’RE GOING TOO FAST,” he shouted to the boys inside the car.

No answer. He heard a _clunk_ and groaned internally. _The stupid Johnson bar, I’ll bet,_ he thought grumpily. He looked up and saw Nagini perched on top of the engine. She nodded back to him with an understanding smile as they sped towards Glacier Gulch. He heard a very discouraging shout of _oh no! the pin!_

“We’re not slowing down,” Nona told him, her eyes wide. “And we’re going downhill!”

“Seems the brake isn’t working,” Gellert reluctantly told her.

“What do we do?” Chris asked, gripping the front railing.

“Well, we’re exposed on the front of a locomotive without a brake, heading for the steepest downhill grade on the trip, Glacier Gulch, and there’s no way to get inside before we get there.” As he spoke Gellert pulled off his belt and fastened it to the railing in front of them, wrapped it around all three of them, and tied it to the other side, a makeshift seatbelt. “So I suggest we all hang on tightly.”

The kids looked at him as if he were out of his mind but, well, what else _could_ they do? Gellert had done this with others before, of course; unkillable Nagini would sit on top of the engine and keep watch. Not likely the kids would slip out of the belt restraint, but if they did the g-forces would push them upwards, and she’d be there to catch them.

But tonight there were no accidents. It took barely a second for the kids’ screams of fright to become shrieks of joy, as the train became a roller coaster the minute they hit Glacier Gulch. It swooped and spun like a theme park ride and the kids seemed to enjoy every second of it, once it became apparent they were not actually in mortal danger. “Can we do it again?” Nona giggled once they straightened out.

“No way on the Lord’s green earth,” Gellert snorted. Once per night was definitely enough. And then he groaned aloud as they came up on the lake, which this being winter was frozen…but tonight, apparently, they weren’t done with the adventures, because— “The ice has frozen over the tracks,” he pointed out to the kids, who looked wary. “Quick, while we’re on flat terrain, get back in the cab. We don’t want to be out here while it’s…oh for heaven’s sake!”

Apparently Percy and Credence had found the cotter pin, because the train slowed with a jerk…and then, because they were on ice and had no friction, the back of the train skidded back and forth, nearly spinning out like a car on a snowy street. “We’re going to crash!” Nona cried, and very nearly demonstrated her own point as the belt snapped free and she fell off the side of the platform.

Nagini chose that moment to slide down from the engine. “No you won’t. Not on my watch,” she said firmly. One-armed, she scooped Nona out of thin air and planted her firmly back at Gellert’s side. She grabbed the belt with both hands and held them all three in place like that as the train slowly skidded and spun to a halting stop.

“Thank you,” Gellert sighed when the immediate danger had passed.

“Anytime. Now let’s get moving. I’ll get the kids inside, Gel, you just figure out what’s going on with Percy and Cree.”

“Oh, that I certainly will.” Gellert hopped off the engine, slid across the ice, and launched himself back into the cab with blazing eyes. “What in the name of Mike are you two doing in here?”

Credence was sitting on the floor clutching his ankle; Percy had a hand around his throat. “I. Uh. May or may not have swallowed the cotter pin.”

“I don’t want to know,” Gellert muttered with a shake of his head. “And what happened to _you?”_

“Don’t know if it’s bruised, strained, or broken,” Credence admitted as he tried to pull himself to his feet. The train had spun all the way around, and from the angle he was sitting at, Gellert could only guess that Credence had been flung across the cabin.

“Then don’t stand on it,” Percy said through gritted teeth. He got up and helped Credence over to the driver’s seat. “Listen, we can get it going again if we just—”

Just as Nagini shepherded the kids safely into the cabin, the ice cracked. And then it _broke,_ water gushing up through the cracks, dark and freezing and threatening. Gellert, Percy, and Credence all made panicked eye contact. Gellert said the first thing he was thinking, which was, _“Get us the blazes out of here!”_ —a sentiment with which the kids wholeheartedly agreed, given that they were both whimpering in obvious terror as they clung to Nagini.

“Nothing’s going to happen,” she assured them softly as Credence slammed forward the throttle like his life depended on it. The train shot backwards, and for a moment Gellert almost told her _that’s not true._ He’d been on this ride for years now, but he’d never seen this. The train could sink right now; magic or not, the damn thing couldn’t _float._ The ghost could only get one or two of the kids out at a time. Falling into icy water would send everyone except the immortals into shock. Once they got the kids to shore they’d still be in danger of hypothermia; they’d be stuck in the middle of nowhere and even if Nagini went for help, how long would it take someone from the Pole to get back to them?

In short: they were in danger. The ice was cracking, the train was going as fast as it could but it still might not be enough. Credence’s hand was white-knuckled on the throttle. Percy shoveled coal in with inhuman speed. “We got this we got this we got this,” he muttered, as if that could magically make it true. 

Credence was sweating bullets as he yanked hard on the lever to throw the train out of reverse and spin it around. “Come on, come _on—”_

The train spun around. The back cars were almost all the way in the ice now, and they had such a narrow opening in the looming mountain ahead to get back on the tracks. If Credence didn’t hit that opening just right, they were, not to put too fine a point on it, screwed. “Right,” he shouted, and Credence immediately pushed the train to the right—and overshot. “Left now,” Gellert ordered him. “Right a little more—just _there,_ just like that, keep up with me now—”

Credence’s face was chalk white, his eyes like saucers as he grabbed frantically for the different levers to maneuver the train into place. The two cabs in the back sank into the ice, followed by the dining car and toy cars. The engine was next. Gellert opened his mouth to tell Nagini to get Nona and Chris out first and then go back to the passenger cars to get the others…

…but just as disaster was about to strike, Credence managed to wing the engine car right onto the tracks. The cars behind fell naturally into place and the train zoomed up the mountain, and Gellert sighed heavily in relief as they left the lake behind. He’d have to borrow some magic from Santa to keep it frozen on the way back, but that was a problem for future Gellert, frankly; he was just relieved to have averted a major crisis.

“That’s more like it,” he sighed as the train began to loop its way up the mountain. He looked to the ghost girl, who still had two very anxious children clinging to her. “Nagini darling, would you mind terribly taking these two youngsters back to the passenger car? I’ve got a few things to deal with up here.”

“Of course. C’mon, you two. We’ll take the shortcut. No way in hades am I pulling you two over the roof again.”

“But ski-jumping with you was so much fun,” Chris protested.

“Yeah, tell me that again in ten minutes when the adrenaline wears off and you can’t stand up right, kid.”

Credence had already hit that point, apparently, because by the time Nagini had spirited the kids away, he was leaning over on the console, his shoulders shaking. Gellert hung back as Percy went to check on him. “It’s okay, sweetheart. You did good,” he said soothingly, stroking Credence’s trembling back. “It was a close call but you got us out. It’s okay. You’re okay.”

Gellert watched, a pang of sympathy hitting him as Credence finally raised a tear-streaked face and launched himself into Percy’s waiting arms. It wasn’t fear for his own life, or Percy’s; they had North Pole magic in them and couldn’t be hurt. It was the responsibility of having the lives of a solid dozen innocent children in his hands, and knowing he’d almost put them all at severe risk. And Gellert knew _that_ feeling all too well.

“It’s my fault,” he was crying as Gellert inched closer to them. “I hit you to make you spit out the pin—I was afraid you’d choke—it hit the ice and that’s what made the ice crack!”

“Sh-h-h.” Percy held him close, gently pulling him out of the driver’s seat. Gellert slid into place and took over; now they just had to keep going straight and the tracks would keep them in place, but someone still needed to be watching just in case. “You had to make a split-second choice, love. You did what you thought you needed to do. And in the end you got us all out. You’re okay. It’s scary, I know, but you’re okay. We’re _all_ okay, thanks to you.”

“He’s right. Come here…” Gellert stood up and indicated for Percy to set Credence back in the driver’s chair, which he did. “Let’s take a look at this,” he said, kneeling down to examine Credence’s injured leg. “I think I can fix this, but if not, well, we’ll be there soon…”

The injury wasn’t serious, just bruising and swelling; it was easily fixed with minimal magic. “I’ll leave you two, then. Got to go check on the kids.” Gellert laid a hand on Credence’s shoulder. “Don’t be too hard on yourself. These things happen, and you handled it beautifully.”

“If you call almost getting a carful of kids killed _handling it beautifully,_ sure.”

“Are they hurt? No. Did everyone make it? Yes. End of story.” Gellert patted his arm and shot Percy a significant look. Percy nodded and put a protective arm around his husband. _I’ll take care of him,_ his eyes said. _You go do your business. I’ve got it from here._

Gellert went off to the toy car. No one else liked to be here, surrounded by broken and unwanted toys. But he appreciated it here; he liked the solitude, for one thing, but for another he loved the idea of taking things no one wanted and remaking them into something new. After all, that was how he’d ended up here.

When Gellert was near death after a messy fight in 1927, Hell and Heaven had argued about who had to take his soul. He wasn’t good enough for Heaven, but he wasn’t evil enough for Hell. He’d ultimately been sent to the Council of Legendary Figures, who placed him with Santa, then a man called Scott Calvin. When Calvin retired in 1940 after 100 years as Santa Claus, as was customary, Gellert was none too pleased to find his replacement was the very man who had nearly done him in, and an old lover to boot.

(And not just _any_ old lover, mind. The love of his life. How was _that_ for a fine how-do-you-do. Gellert had to wonder, after realizing he was essentially condemned to work for the man whose heart he had broken for at least the next hundred years if not more, if he hadn’t wound up in Hell after all.)

Things had gotten better after a while, however. Conversations were had. Understandings were made. Promises that had been broken were kept, and hearts that had shattered were, however slowly, carefully mended. All in all, Gellert liked who he was now much better than the man who had been willing to fight to the death rather than admit he was wrong in 1927. So really, he understood these old toys quite well. Broken and on their last legs, cruelly cast aside, but with the promise of redemption, of a new life.

He settled down on a broken rocking horse and permitted himself, by the clock, two minutes to recover from all that had just happened. No tears spilled out, not even a bitten-off gasp. Just two minutes of silently shaking, arms wrapped tight around his own shoulders, fighting the urge to scream. He hated, _hated_ close calls, and that had been the closest one yet.

He envied Credence severely and, here in his own head, he wasn’t ashamed to admit it. What he wouldn’t have given to have his own partner here on the train to hold and calm him right now! But no—the man had bigger things to worry about. He had his own journey to make tonight, one that came with its own complications and troubles. Gellert was well aware of who he was married to and that they were both fully grown (if immortal and unusual) men, both of whom were expected to be able to carry out their own work without complaint.

He stayed in the toy car for another minute, marshalling himself into some semblance of professional detachment, and then went back to work. Had to get that train to the Pole on time, after all. Nothing was more important than that.

~

Somehow, they managed to finish the night without any further major incidents. Credence was able to recover enough to get them there, and once they were safely at the North Pole, all Gellert had to worry about was getting the kids from the train to the town square. His watch had inched dangerously close to “late” a few times, but even when Chris, Nona, Billy, and Eddie somehow found their way into the workshop and from there into Santa’s bag of presents (Gellert wasn’t even going to ask), they still managed to get to the square just before midnight.

This, always, was Gellert’s favorite moment. The kids who weren’t sure if they believed in Santa anymore, disillusioned kids like Billy or skeptical kids like Chris, or kids who just wanted the comforting proof of his existence like Nona, _finally_ seeing the mythical Santa coming out to his sleigh. The buildup, the chanting, the reindeer coming out with their bells jingling. The presents being lifted in by lighter-than-aircraft. The looks of excitement on the kids’ faces when they see their hero for the first time.

Chris, the boy who went after Nona, who stopped the train for Billy, who nearly got stuck in the bag of presents while trying to make sure all his friends got to see Santa, was chosen to receive the first gift of Christmas. And then it was midnight, time for them all to board the train and go back home. The kids had seen the North Pole, seen that Santa was real. They were ready to be taken home, go back to sleep, wake up to all their presents in the morning and wonder if the whole night was just a beautiful exciting dream.

Gellert had to stop and ask Steven, the head elf, for a bit of extra magic to ensure the ice would frozen and the tracks accessible when they headed back over the lake. He then had to take a minute to check in on Credence and Percy before they began the journey back home. “I’m all right,” Credence said before he can ask. “Really, I’m fine. I was just a little upset earlier. I’m okay now, I promise. I’m sorry for being so…”

“Human?” Gellert teased him. Credence cringed and blushed a little. “Don’t worry about it. Get ready now, we’ve got a long trip back.”

“Don’t remind me,” Percy groaned. “I just want to go to bed.”

“Well, you can’t. Not yet. We’ve still got work to do,” Gellert said sternly. “And so help me, if I come up here one time and find you two necking…”

“Okay, _dad,”_ Percy said with a roll of his eyes. “Don’t you have children to terrorize?”

Gellert did in fact need to get back and punch the tickets as the children boarded, so he went off to do just that, punching a little word into each child’s ticket. _Learn_ for know-it-all Eddie, _Believe_ for Chris, _Lead_ for intrepid little Nona, _Rely On_ for Billy. He got them shepherded back to their seats, warm milk and cookies wheeled in from the dining car as a bedtime snack. Many of them were liable to drift off on the trip home. He would have to keep a sharp eye, make sure none of them missed their stop.

And then. _And then._ After the last child had been taken home, _they_ would get to go home, and oh, how Gellert deeply looked forward to that moment.

 _Just a few hours now,_ he reminded himself as the train finally began to move. _Just a few hours, and you’ll be safe in your bed waiting for your man. Just keep it up for a few more hours, and you don’t have to do this until next year._

~

The trip home was easier than the trip there. The ice stayed frozen, none of the kids slept through their stops, there were no caribou blocking the track…it was almost textbook. Gellert had to smile when they dropped off Chris and he spent a good five minutes saying good-bye to Nona. Childhood crushes, already? Well, he did have to admit they were just about the right age for it. He didn’t rush them. Maybe twenty years from now they’d be married with a few kids; maybe they would never see each other again. But right now this moment was important to them, and that was what really mattered.

When the last child had been dropped off, Gellert back to the engine room. “Are we ready?” he asked, and Credence and Percy both nodded. “Well, you know what to do, then.”

Of course, magic ran the train, there was no way they could make it all in one night otherwise just like with Santa’s sleigh. However, they still couldn’t go too fast when there were kids on board; humans weren’t accustomed to going at the top speed that the train could manage, and it wouldn’t do to injure their passengers. But now that the last stop had been made, well…

Credence pushed the button that switched the train into full-magic mode and they were off, going so fast that it was almost impossible to been seen by human eyes. And that was it. Within half an hour, they were pulling back into the station at the North Pole. “Thank all the gods and all the legendary figures,” Percy sighed in relief as the train slowed to a stop. “Newmatic technology is amazing.”

“And by that you mean magic,” Credence corrected him with a giggle.

Gellert rolled his eyes and looked at his pocketwatch. Finally, the hand was down to _still._ His work for the night was…almost done. But not quite. He had a few hours before Santa would be back. That would be plenty of time to set things in order.

He went up to Santa’s room, changed the sheets, charmed them to stay warm and soft, and laid out a clean pair of pajamas. The room was mostly tidy, but he still puttered around a little, straightening up what few things needed to be straightened and doing little cleaning charms here and there. Magic was easier to use at the Pole than it was when he was away, even on the train. He had to smile at the thought of how much easier it would’ve been to live in the human world if he could’ve done chores with magic back then.

He went back down to the main part of the workshop, heading for the kitchen, and stopped when he saw Credence and Percy curled up together on the tiny sofa of a half-finished playhouse. Gellert rolled his eyes (really, could those two not just keep their snuggling confined to their quarters?) but stopped, hidden behind a stack of giant teddy bears, and shamelessly watched them for a moment.

Much as he liked to tease his engineers for being unable to keep their hands off each other, the truth was Gellert envied them a little. They’d been in a honeymoon period for going on twenty-five years now. Permanently frozen, respectively, at twenty-four and thirty-nine, Credence and Percy had fallen in love the instant they’d laid eyes on each other and stayed that way. He’d never so much as seen them argue. If anyone came after Percy for any reason, even just a mild scolding, Credence was ready to defend him with his life and vice versa.

He and Albus weren’t like that. When they were both alive, young men living in a tiny British village in the middle of nowhere, they had _fought._ Gellert resorted to cursing him out in German many times, and it wasn’t until Albus angrily revealed one day that he did in fact speak multiple languages that Gellert realized his then-secret boyfriend could understand what he was saying in his fits of rage. They had shouted each other down, wrestled like little boys, thrown drinks in each other’s faces, gone without speaking for days. And then, like the idiots in love that they were, they would cuddle up under their favorite tree and hold each other silently for hours.

Things weren’t like that now, of course. Shouting at one’s boss, after all, was different from shouting at one’s boyfriend, for one thing. For another, they weren’t seventeen years old anymore, couldn’t get away with behaving like jerks when the mood struck them and acting like humans when they felt up to it. Those days had been fierce, passionate, but never really painful. Now, Gellert constantly worried that Albus had forgotten him, that he’d somehow fallen out of favor even though he knew, on an intellectual level anyway, that the Christmas season was just busy…

Now he watched as Credence snuggled up in Percy’s lap, a look of sappy devotion on his face that Gellert thought, with a twist in his stomach, had never been seen on his or Albus’ faces when they looked at each other. _They’re perfect together,_ he thought, a little pang hitting him at the realization. _I’ll bet Percy never wonders if Credence still loves him._ They began to kiss. It was soft and sweet at first, but slowly built in passion and intensity, and Gellert was just thinking now would be a great time to exit stage right when Credence pulled away and said, “I’ll be right back.”

Percy watched curiously as Credence slipped off his lap, out of the playhouse, and out of the workshop. Moments later Credence returned with a slice of pie on a plate, and Gellert had to muffle his laugh in a teddy bear’s arm at the look of pure disbelief that Percy wore. “Seriously?” Percy finally said as Credence plunked back down in his lap, pie and all.

“Want some?” Credence replied innocently, offering up the pie plate and fork to Percy as if there were nothing unusual at all about stopping mid-makeout to get a snack.

Gellert chewed his lip to keep from laughing as Percy just stared at his husband, head tilted to one side like a confused puppy. “I have no idea what goes on in your head,” he finally said, and sighed as if to accept the inevitable as Credence fed him a bite of pie.

Okay, that was enough. Gellert snuck through the back of the workshop to get to the kitchens, where he finally was able to burst out laughing without worrying that he’d be heard (though, of course, he did muffle the laughter in a hand towel, just to be safe). So, he reflected as he made himself a pot of tea, still giggling at the memory of the befuddled look on Percy’s face, maybe they weren’t so perfect after all. But still downright adorable, even in their odd moments.

Back in the bedroom with a thermos of lavender-chamomile tea, Gellert settled himself in a chair with a book, determined to wait for his partner to come home before he went to sleep. This was an interesting book, too, some human romance novel called _Twilight,_ about a mortal girl who fell in love with an immortal vampire. Gellert certainly understood how that felt.

(Okay, he was technically immortal too now. But he was just a train conductor. Albus was a real, actual mythical figure. They weren’t the same status at all, and he knew it.)

He meant to stay awake, he did. But his eyes grew heavy, the words blurred together only a few pages in, and before he knew it, a warm hand was resting on his shoulder, sturdy fingers stroking the back of his neck. “I’m home, precious,” came a low, familiar voice. “Want to come to bed with me?”

Gellert stirred himself and nodded. Blearily opened his eyes and blinked until the face of Santa Claus—or, as Gellert had known him in life, Albus Dumbledore—swam into view. “Hi,” he managed sleepily. “Did you hand out all the toys?”

“Handed out all the toys,” Albus confirmed with a smile as he gently pulled Gellert out of his chair and herded him towards the bed.

“No coal this year?”

“Very little. Only a few children were truly awful enough to deserve it.” He sighed heavily. “Unfortunately, the kids who do deserve the coal, usually get more than enough from their parents to make up for it.”

“Oh.” Gellert frowned a little; however many decades he’d been at this and he’d never considered that until now. “I’m sorry.”

“Hardly your fault, dear. Now, are you coming to bed like that?”

Gellert looked down and realized he was still in his conductor's uniform. He unceremoniously tossed it aside and crawled into bed in his underwear, rather inelegant next to his husband with the classy silk pajamas. But he didn’t regret it a minute, not when Albus slid into bed a moment later and pulled Gellert in close, and Gellert could feel all that soft, silky fabric against his skin, with Albus’ warmth radiating through the thin material. “So warm,” he sighed, melting into the welcome embrace.

“And so are you.” Albus kissed his forehead and held him close. “Was it a good ride last night?”

“Scary.”

“Scary?” Albus sounded a little alarmed. “What happened? Steven told me you needed a little extra magic to get home…”

“Ice broke on the lake.” 

“Oh, my. I’m sorry. That must’ve been terrifying. But everyone got through, yes? All the kids were safe?”

“Kids were safe.” He couldn’t help but yawn. “Credence was fantastic. Got us through without so much as a scratch. Kids never even knew something was wrong.”

“Good, good. But you were scared, precious? That’s not like you.” Albus stroked his hair reassuringly. “But you’re done now. Safe and sound here, and you don’t have to do it again for a whole year.”

Gellert nuzzled in close to Albus like a child. In these moments, early in the morning on December 25th when the rest of the world was just waking up and children were to preoccupied with their new toys to wonder what Santa was doing, it didn’t matter that he wasn’t “Mrs. Claus.” That he was a former gangster from the 1920s, a bootlegger from the wrong side of the tracks, and a _man,_ instead of a wholesome white-haired woman in a starched apron and red grandma dress. All that mattered was that he was in the arms of the man he loved. That they were both safe, and together again.

Sometimes Gellert did envy Credence and Percy, getting to spend the hardest night of the year together, knowing that the other was right there where they could be seen, knowing whether or not the other was safe. So many things could go wrong on the train or on the sleigh, and being unable to die didn’t mean that one was immune to pain. Maybe Gellert didn’t need to worry, but he did.

 _Does Albus ever worry about me? Does he care that we all could have sunk last night? Does he know I’d go through it again, a hundred times over, and I_ will _because I’d rather be here with him than anywhere else? He has so much else to worry about. Would he care if I were gone, as long as he still had his elves and his kids?_

But before he could go too far down that path, a comforting hand stroked up and down his back and Albus rumbled in his ear, low and gentle and infinitely soothing, “You can tell me about it later, precious. Right now, we both need rest. And starting tomorrow, we make up for lost time. I don’t have to set foot in that workshop again until March. Now, sleep darling. I’m home with you, and it’s all going to be just fine.”

Magic words. Gellert closed his eyes, tucked his head into his partner’s neck, and fell asleep in minutes, his last thought before he drifted off that he really was lucky to be married to Santa Claus, even if it did mean having to be the conductor of the _Polar Express._

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on twitter or tumblr @CupcakeFoggy if you wanna squee with me about Fantastic Beasts, Colin Farrell, or Mads Mikkelsen ^_^


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